The present invention relates to a heating arrangement for ice skate blades.
Common ice skates used in skating have a elongate blade which is arranged to slide along the ice surface. Attempts to minimise the friction between the blade and the ice using heat are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,119,921 (Czaja) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,927 (Tvengsberg) which use resistance heating to heat a blade on a skate. Resistance heating uses a high amount of energy and providing enough power to maintain a heated blade for a sufficient length of time would need a large power source. Since the optimal situation is to have a light skate, the above examples would be relatively heavy and cumbersome to use, specifically in prolonged uses.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ice skate including a heating system which reduces the coefficient of friction of the blade on the ice.
According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an ice skate comprising;
a boot arranged to receive a persons foot;
a skate blade assembly having;
a blade mounting arrangement is arranged to be connected to a sole of the boot and arranged to support a skate blade thereon, and;
a blade heating arrangement mounted within the mounting arrangement having a processor and a power source;
wherein the blade heating arrangement uses a field-effect transistor operating in its non-linear region of operation to heat the skate blade.
Conveniently the blade heating arrangement has a motion sensor arranged to control the heating of the blade such that when the skate is in use the blade is heated, when the skate is not in use the heat is off.
Conveniently the blade has sides which are insulated by a plastic material to provide an insulating layer between the blade and the air.
Conveniently the insulating layer is Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
Preferably the processor is a RISC processor.
Preferably the processor senses the temperature of the skate blade.
Conveniently there are three distinct heating states controlled by the processor, initial warm up, full maintain which is activated when the skate is in constant action and a half maintain which is activated when the skate is in use occasionally.
Preferably the heating arrangement is specifically tuned for skate blade geometry and metallurgy.
Preferably the microprocessor is used to generate a continuously adapting drive waveform.
Preferably the power source is a rechargeable lithium battery mounted within the blade mounting arrangement.